Stuffed Bell Peppers

This is one of those meals that’s good if you’ve got leftover rice–as we frequently do. I tend to batch cook brown rice because it reheats well and goes in a lot of stuff. It’s a good one to try on both the Sonoma Diet and South Beach Diet because it’s chock full of good stuff. Not pretty but tasty.

Ingredients:

1 pound of lean ground beef

1 cup finely diced Portobello mushrooms

1/2 onion, finely diced

4 cloves of garlic, finely minced

basil

thyme

oregano

salt and pepper to taste

1 can petite diced tomatoes

2 cups finely grated cheddar (or cheese of choice)

balsamic vinegar

3 large bell peppers

1 to 1.5 cups cooked rice (I prefer brown)

Directions:

Most people, when they make stuffed peppers, cut the top off and pull out the core and ribs of the pepper. This winds up being enormous (and as I am the only REAL pepper fan in our house, wasteful), so I cut them straight down the center, vertically and carefully scoop out the core, ribs, and seeds. Boil in salted water for 3 minutes, then remove to a clean kitchen towel to drain.

Brown the hamburger meat with the onion and garlic. Drain off any excess fat.

Add meat mixture, can of undrained diced tomatoes, rice, mushrooms a splash of balsamic vinegar, 1/2 tsp each of the oregano and basil, and 1/4 tsp of the thyme. Mix well. Add salt and pepper.

Overfill each pepper and place in a baking dish. Any leftover filling can go in the empty spaces.